Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

US video game sales have record quarter as consumers stay at home

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 307 posts

Re: US video game sales have record quarter as consumers stay at home

#71

Post by mcv »

wayneftw wrote: post #36

I think I must be a simpleton compared to many people. I am able to play the same video game for years and years before getting bored with it. Currently that game is Rocket League. Before that, it was Skate, Skate 2 and Skate 3 and before that...World of Warcraft.

That doesn't have to make you a simpleton. Some of the most complex hardcore games take years to master. Like EU4. I've been playing it for many years, and I'm still learning new things.

I tend to stick with games for a long time.

Re: US video game sales have record quarter as consumers stay at home

#72

Post by astura »

ArtWomb wrote: post #3

I'd argue it's not just lockdown. This has been an epic release year: Animal Crossing, Half Life Alyx, Doom Eternal, Gears Tactics, Valorent, Sea of Thieves. And on and on. Paper Mario: Origami King trailer looks like so much fun there is no reason to leave the house this summer ;)

Additionally pretty much all of my friends have been super hyped for a few other recent releases: Streets of Rage 4 and FFVII Remake.

One friend even mentioned he hasn't been nearly this excited about video games since childhood.

There's a few new releases I'd like to get, but I'm too busy with the games I already have, so I'm holding off.

Lockdown has increased video game consumption beyond newer releases, the price of Wii consoles and Wii Sports has increased, for example, which shows an increased demand for a console that came out 14 years ago.

So it's a combination of a strong new releases, a big reduction in options for other leisure activities, and literally millions of newly unemployed people.

Re: US video game sales have record quarter as consumers stay at home

#73

Post by jayd16 »

biryani_chicken wrote: post #44

I got Monster Hunter World recently. Was debating whether to go down that rabbit hole for months but the lockdown and steam sale made it an easier decision.

It really good. This was my first real attempt at a Monster Hunter game and for two or three days I didn't understand the hype. Then the controls clicked and I loved it. Very well designed game, from the controls to the character progression.

Re: US video game sales have record quarter as consumers stay at home

#74

Post by rotexo »

grawprog wrote: post #69
ArtWomb wrote: post #3

I'd argue it's not just lockdown. This has been an epic release year: Animal Crossing, Half Life Alyx, Doom Eternal, Gears Tactics, Valorent, Sea of Thieves. And on and on. Paper Mario: Origami King trailer looks like so much fun there is no reason to leave the house this summer ;)

I dunno, i've been playing a lot more video games than I have in years and none of them are new releases. I spent about a month on Dark Souls, another on Bloodborne, now Bloodstained and The Messenger. None of those were released this year and i've bought all of them in the last couple months.

Exactly. I just bought a Switch Lite and I'm playing Breath of the Wild for the first time. It has been 15+ years since I played a Zelda game seriously (last one I played was Wind Waker), and I am just blown away. I'm lucky to be working, but the child in me wishes I was on summer break.

Re: US video game sales have record quarter as consumers stay at home

#75

Post by jackklika »

k__ wrote: post #55

Half-OT: Currently I'm playing Stardew Valley on my FireHD10, I never played a mobile port that had THAT good controls. I also got Terraria and Minecraft and they are pretty bad to play with awkward on-screen controls. Does anyone here know of games that have good mobile ports? Or even good mobile games to start with? Most "native" mobile games just were really basic, full of in-app purchases etc. so I was looking mo…

Mindustry[1] is an open source game that works perfect on mobile, especially if you have a big screen. You can find it on app stores or download it manually.

It's like factorio but more tower-defense and round-based. Much more approachable while still being really fun.

[1] https://github.com/Anuken/Mindustry

Re: US video game sales have record quarter as consumers stay at home

#76

Post by duxup »

mikepurvis wrote: post #70
duxup wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Half Life Alyx Big name, but random googling says Half Life Alyx sold 50k vs.... Animal Crossing at 11 million+ by March 31. I'm not sure Half Life Alyx has any relevance as far as volume of play goes ;)

Girlfriend Reviews said of Alyx "now we are all backseat gamers", regarding the imbalance of people watching the game be played on Twitch vs actually playing it themselves: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m67wYSTgvus

I think the gaming world is a lot more fractured than it used to be. Titles that are still big names, I don't think command the % of gamer eyeballs as they used to, or at least not as much.

Much like music, movies, pretty much all media.

Re: US video game sales have record quarter as consumers stay at home

#77

Post by efrafa »

eunoia wrote: post #59
wayneftw wrote: post #36

I think I must be a simpleton compared to many people. I am able to play the same video game for years and years before getting bored with it. Currently that game is Rocket League. Before that, it was Skate, Skate 2 and Skate 3 and before that...World of Warcraft.

You can still play Skate 1 and 3 on modern Xbox! Holding out hope we’ll get a 4 some day...

There’s THPS 1&2 remake comming in this summer!

Re: US video game sales have record quarter as consumers stay at home

#78

Post by sixothree »

grawprog wrote: post #69
ArtWomb wrote: post #3

I'd argue it's not just lockdown. This has been an epic release year: Animal Crossing, Half Life Alyx, Doom Eternal, Gears Tactics, Valorent, Sea of Thieves. And on and on. Paper Mario: Origami King trailer looks like so much fun there is no reason to leave the house this summer ;)

I dunno, i've been playing a lot more video games than I have in years and none of them are new releases. I spent about a month on Dark Souls, another on Bloodborne, now Bloodstained and The Messenger. None of those were released this year and i've bought all of them in the last couple months.

Likewise. But gaming feels more pointless to me than ever. I have a hard time describing it. But games that lack a clear goal and don't guide you towards that goal are where I feel it the most. For in instance Cities Skylines building out cities leaves me feeling empty instead of accomplished. I used to treat Skylines and Civ like solitaire - play a few hours mindlessly to burn away a bit of time. But even solitaire would probably not leave me feeling like this.

Playing lately Phoenix Wright, Cities Skylines, Alien Isolation (snagged it at $2), RDR2.

Re: US video game sales have record quarter as consumers stay at home

#79

Post by rpvnwnkl »

k__ wrote: post #55

Half-OT: Currently I'm playing Stardew Valley on my FireHD10, I never played a mobile port that had THAT good controls. I also got Terraria and Minecraft and they are pretty bad to play with awkward on-screen controls. Does anyone here know of games that have good mobile ports? Or even good mobile games to start with? Most "native" mobile games just were really basic, full of in-app purchases etc. so I was looking mo…

Xenowerk is a lot of fun, as well as the Halo games for iOS, although I think they got pulled from the store.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/xenowerk/id969447496

Post reply on HN